Welcome To Orlando #4 6-9 PF Aaron Gordon

[MagicStarwipe]

Also, Victor Oladipo was far more accomplished than Jesus at the same age. Jesus was just a carpenter at the time.

Same standing reach.

C'mon man, you didn't even post both of their per 36 numbers.

[basketballRob]

Also, Victor Oladipo was far more accomplished than Jesus at the same age. Jesus was just a carpenter at the time.

Same standing reach.

WWVD

[basketballRob]

Ag Q & A with Dime magazine.


http://dimemag.com/2014/08/dime-qa-aaron-gordon/

[Malik Starks]

Not sure why, but I can see that lineup playing Spurs style basketball. VUCEVIC is an above average passer, Payton is as well, and so is AG.

The only comparison I'm seeing in terms of players is between AG and Kawhi Leonard. They have different body types, but had similar games coming out of college. Leonard's draft express page from 2011 compares him to none other than Shawn Marion as well.

Keep in mind Leonard played mostly PF in college and had none of the offensive skills of an NBA wing. He has come a long way on the offensive side of the ball. AG is actually further along in many respects.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToZrvGvJt-A[/youtube]

[Mr Sixer]

Not sure why, but I can see that lineup playing Spurs style basketball. VUCEVIC is an above average passer, Payton is as well, and so is AG.

The only comparison I'm seeing in terms of players is between AG and Kawhi Leonard. They have different body types, but had similar games coming out of college. Leonard's draft express page from 2011 compares him to none other than Shawn Marion as well.

Keep in mind Leonard mostly PF in college and had none of the offensive skills of an NBA wing. He has come a long way on the offensive side of the ball. AG is actually further along in many respects.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToZrvGvJt-A[/youtube]

I think this is an unrealistic expectation as far as offensive upside goes in the next several years, especially as far as perimeter game goes. As others have said in this thread, Aaron Gordon projects to be more of a PF in the long run once he bulks up a little more I think. I think if he reaches his absolute max potential on both sides of the ball, he will make his living out of the post, and I think you will be looking at some kind of mix between Shawn Marion and Dennis Rodman with a splash of Blake Griffin

[in-limbo]

I'm thinking a little more Blake Griffin than that.

[BadMofoPimp]

Heck, Rodman was even Skinnier than Gordon as he entered the NBA while Rodman became Defensive Player of the year after 4 years in the NBA and a bulky guy. They are both 6'9" to boot while Gordon even has an offensive game of which Rodman had none. The future is bright with this kid.

[j-ragg]

I don't know if we'll ever see a motor like Rodman had though.

But if he could have a somewhat similar motor to someone like Oladipo, we could have something special.

[Orlwillbeback]

rodman was a really unique player, there are rumors that he might have asbergers which explains why he could find where rebounds were gonna go because he could tell where they would end up by watching the rotation on the ball and just predicting where it would land. I dont know if we'll ever see another rodman.

Gordon is like kirilenko.

[Malik Starks]

I think this is an unrealistic expectation as far as offensive upside goes in the next several years, especially as far as perimeter game goes. As others have said in this thread, Aaron Gordon projects to be more of a PF in the long run once he bulks up a little more I think. I think if he reaches his absolute max potential on both sides of the ball, he will make his living out of the post, and I think you will be looking at some kind of mix between Shawn Marion and Dennis Rodman with a splash of Blake Griffin

It all depends on the Magic's plan, the main point is that both were tweeners coming out of college. Kwahi had the body of a wing with the game of a front-court player. Gordon has closer to the body of a four with the ball handling and passing of wing, they could go either way him.

The Magic had Gordon running mostly SF in Summer League. I'm pretty sure it wasn't so they could have a look at Romero Osby at the 4. The same thing happened with Oladipo in Summer League where he played PG and most wrote it off as a "SL experiment", only to have Oladipo play mostly PG during the season and in Summer League again this year.

I don't know how it's going to play out, but I could see how Leonard's development could have influenced the Magic into picking Gordon, and developing him in a similar manner. If you think the comparison is unrealistic, you should take a look at the video (of both players). Gordon is actually much further along as a wing player than Leonard was coming out.

[Mr Sixer]

I think this is an unrealistic expectation as far as offensive upside goes in the next several years, especially as far as perimeter game goes. As others have said in this thread, Aaron Gordon projects to be more of a PF in the long run once he bulks up a little more I think. I think if he reaches his absolute max potential on both sides of the ball, he will make his living out of the post, and I think you will be looking at some kind of mix between Shawn Marion and Dennis Rodman with a splash of Blake Griffin

It all depends on the Magic's plan, the main point is that both were tweeners coming out of college. Kwahi had the body of a wing with the game of a front-court player. Gordon has closer to the body of a four with the ball handling and passing of wing, they could go either way him.

The Magic had Gordon running mostly SF in Summer League. I'm pretty sure it wasn't so they could have a look at Romero Osby at the 4. The same thing happened with Oladipo in Summer League where he played PG and most wrote it off as a "SL experiment", only to have Oladipo play mostly PG during the season and in Summer League again this year.

I don't know how it's going to play out, but I could see how Leonard's development could have influenced the Magic into picking Gordon, and developing him in a similar manner. If you think the comparison is unrealistic, you should take a look at the video (of both players). Gordon is actually much further along as a wing player than Leonard was coming out.

Gordon shot 42 percent from the free throw line his freshman year.

Kawhi Leonard shot over 70 percent both years....

[BadMofoPimp]

I don't know how it's going to play out, but I could see how Leonard's development could have influenced the Magic into picking Gordon, and developing him in a similar manner. If you think the comparison is unrealistic, you should take a look at the video game (of both players). Gordon is actually much further along as a wing player than Leonard was coming out.

FIXED!!!

[jazzfan1971]

Right now I'm thinking Faried with a spash of Griffin and a smidge of Chris Dudley.

[basketballRob]

Right now I'm thinking Faried with a spash of Griffin and a smidge of Chris Dudley.

Right now he's 100% a wing player. I'm not sure if Faried, Griffin, or Dudley couldn't guard PG, SG, and SF's.

[basketballRob]

I think this is an unrealistic expectation as far as offensive upside goes in the next several years, especially as far as perimeter game goes. As others have said in this thread, Aaron Gordon projects to be more of a PF in the long run once he bulks up a little more I think. I think if he reaches his absolute max potential on both sides of the ball, he will make his living out of the post, and I think you will be looking at some kind of mix between Shawn Marion and Dennis Rodman with a splash of Blake Griffin

It all depends on the Magic's plan, the main point is that both were tweeners coming out of college. Kwahi had the body of a wing with the game of a front-court player. Gordon has closer to the body of a four with the ball handling and passing of wing, they could go either way him.

The Magic had Gordon running mostly SF in Summer League. I'm pretty sure it wasn't so they could have a look at Romero Osby at the 4. The same thing happened with Oladipo in Summer League where he played PG and most wrote it off as a "SL experiment", only to have Oladipo play mostly PG during the season and in Summer League again this year.

I don't know how it's going to play out, but I could see how Leonard's development could have influenced the Magic into picking Gordon, and developing him in a similar manner. If you think the comparison is unrealistic, you should take a look at the video (of both players). Gordon is actually much further along as a wing player than Leonard was coming out.

Gordon shot 42 percent from the free throw line his freshman year.

Kawhi Leonard shot over 70 percent both years....

He also shot 36% from 3's.

[Mr Sixer]

It all depends on the Magic's plan, the main point is that both were tweeners coming out of college. Kwahi had the body of a wing with the game of a front-court player. Gordon has closer to the body of a four with the ball handling and passing of wing, they could go either way him.

The Magic had Gordon running mostly SF in Summer League. I'm pretty sure it wasn't so they could have a look at Romero Osby at the 4. The same thing happened with Oladipo in Summer League where he played PG and most wrote it off as a "SL experiment", only to have Oladipo play mostly PG during the season and in Summer League again this year.

I don't know how it's going to play out, but I could see how Leonard's development could have influenced the Magic into picking Gordon, and developing him in a similar manner. If you think the comparison is unrealistic, you should take a look at the video (of both players). Gordon is actually much further along as a wing player than Leonard was coming out.

Gordon shot 42 percent from the free throw line his freshman year.

Kawhi Leonard shot over 70 percent both years....

He also shot 36% from 3's.

He shot 45 3s all season. That's not nearly a big enough sample size to put stock in. When its almost as high as his ft percentage that should tell you how skewed that number is. I'm a fan of Gordon but I think you're being overly optimistic about his offensive upside as a wing player. FT% is a good indicator. 3 pt % on 45 3s is not.

[Neon1]

Gordon shot 42 percent from the free throw line his freshman year.

Kawhi Leonard shot over 70 percent both years....

He also shot 36% from 3's.

He shot 45 3s all season. That's not nearly a big enough sample size to put stock in. When its almost as high as his ft percentage that should tell you how skewed that number is. I'm a fan of Gordon but I think you're being overly optimistic about his offensive upside as a wing player. FT% is a good indicator. 3 pt % on 45 3s is not.

Agreed.

[mojosodope]

Right now I'm thinking Faried with a spash of Griffin and a smidge of Chris Dudley.

Right now he's 100% a wing player. I'm not sure if Faried, Griffin, or Dudley couldn't guard PG, SG, and SF's.

100% a wing player???

[Malik Starks]

Gordon shot 42 percent from the free throw line his freshman year.

Kawhi Leonard shot over 70 percent both years....

I said he was further along in MANY RESPECTS not all. It's very easy to pick and choose one or two stats to suit a particular viewpoint. The simple fact is that Leonard had to greatly improve as a shooter coming out, as will Gordon.

Mainly though I was referring to ball handling, passing and off ball movement, these were not strengths for Leonard coming out, as they are for Gordon. And no, I'm not saying that he has polished all of these skills, but he does them all fairly well, they are all mentioned as strengths in his Draft Express tape. They were listed as weaknesses for Leonard.

I'm certainly not the only one that has made the comparison either:

http://sports.yahoo.com/video/arizonas-aaron-gordon-next-kawhi-161751203.html

Fast forward to 2:19, I hadn't even seen this video before, but dude pretty much says the exact same thing.

[drsd]

College Coach: "Aaron is a once-in-a-lifetime player"

NBA.com LINK

Miller continued. "When you see the kind of drive that he has, it’s usually in the underdog or the walk-on who is trying to earn a scholarship or someone who is just trying to perfect their skill level because they aren’t talented enough. Aaron is unique because he has the ingredients of a world class athlete, but also a desire and a mindset that you usually only see in an underdog. That’s the combination that makes him so special. It makes him a great teammate and his coaching staff warms up to him. There’s a winning culture that follows him with how he handles himself every day."

What one can see is that GM Hennigan is assembling the All Gym-rat Team. Oladipo, Gordon-A and Payton might live in the Magic's gym. That will contagiously "infect" Harris and Harkless. If Vučević catches this bug as well, the Magic will be the most fit and prepared team game on night-in-and-out. That will lead to wins!

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